1And it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was in the midst of the exiles by the river Kebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw divine visions.

2On the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of the exile of king Jehoyachin,

3Came the word of the Lord expressly unto Ezekiel the son of Buzi, the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Kebar; and there came upon him there the inspiration of the Lord.

4And I saw, and behold, a storm-wind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a flaming fire, and a brightness was on it round about; and out of the midst of it was like the glitter of amber, out of the midst of the fire.

5And out of the midst thereof [I saw] the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: They had the likeness of a man.

6And every one had four faces, and every one of them had four wings.

7And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot: and they sparkled like the glitter of burnished copper.

8And hands of man [were visible] from beneath their wings on their four sides: and their faces and their wings [were alike] on all these four.

9Their wings were joined one to the other: they turned not about in their going; they went every one in the direction of one of their faces.

10And the likeness of their faces was the face of a man; and the face of a lion, on the right side for all four of them; and the face of an ox on the left side for all four of them; and the face of an eagle for all four of them.

11Thus were their faces: and their wings were spread out upward; every one had two joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.

12And they went every one in the direction of one of his faces: whither the spirit was directed to go, they went; they turned not about in their going.

13As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like coals of fire, burning as with the appearance of torches; this [fire] it was which passed along between the living creatures: and a brightness was about the fire, and out of the fire went forth lightning.

14And the living creatures ran backward and forward like the appearance of a flash of lightning.

15And I looked on the living creatures, and, behold, there was one wheel upon the earth close by the living creatures, by their four front faces.

16The appearance of the wheels and their work was like the color of a chrysolite; and all four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as though it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.

17Toward their four sides they went in their going: they turned not round in their going.

18As for their circumferences, they were so high that they excited fear: and their felloes were full of eyes round about on all these four.

19And when the living creatures went, the wheels went near to them: and when the living creatures lifted themselves up from the earth, the wheels lifted themselves up.

20Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went; [for] thither was [their] spirit to go: and the wheels lifted themselves up at the same time with them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

21When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those lifted themselves up from the earth, the wheels lifted themselves up at the same time with them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

22And the likeness of a vault was over the head of the living creatures, [shining] like the glitter of the purest crystal, stretched forth over their heads above.

23And under the vault their wings were straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which covered them, and every one had two, which covered them,—[namely,] their bodies.

24And I heard the sound of their wings, like the sound of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, when they went, the sound of [their] speech, as the noise of an army: when they stood still, they let down their wings.

25And there was a voice from the vault that was over their head: when they stood still, they let down their wings.

26And above the vault that was over their head was like the appearance of a sapphire-stone, the likeness of a throne: and upon the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.

27And I saw as if it were the glitter of amber, as the appearance of fire within it round about, from the appearance of his loins upward; and from the appearance of his loins downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.

28Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about: this was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard the voice of one that spoke.